Habits that Hurt

If you have a bad habit, how do you break it?  The first step is always recognizing you have a problem.  Once you have done this, you need to replace your old behaviors with new ones.  It is estimated that if you do something for 21 days straight, it becomes a habit.   What habits do you need to break?

Often I meet people who want to grow closer to God through their finances.  They want to be more pleasing to God with their money yet they often take advice from worldly sources rather than God’s Word.

Most of us have everything we need:  food, clothing, and shelter.  It’s usually not our needs that get us in trouble.  It’s our wants: a nicer house, a nicer car, electronics, entertainment, more and more stuff… It’s not easy to fight off consumeritis when you are being infected with TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, internet, and other advertisements telling you to enjoy the latest and greatest of what life has to offer. 

BAD HABIT #1: Allowing discontentment to get the best of you. 
Ben Franklin once said “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.”  Isn’t that the truth?   What you allow to enter your mind is within your control.  Things do not equal happiness.  Happiness is found in a relationship with God.  By Allowing Him to help you determine your spending priorities, it will help keep your consumer appetite in check.  Like in the Parable of the Talents, those who are faithful in the little things will be given more…

Here are three habits that break the bank:

BAD HABIT #2: No Financial Plan
In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25), the master gave the servants an amount according to their abilities to handle money.  The one servant who did not manage money wisely had to give his share to the most faithful because of his laziness.  When we fail to have financial plan, it is difficult to manage money wisely.  I often find those without a financial plan often abuse debt. 

Look at the US economy.  Do you think it is a coincidence our system is in trouble after making foolish decisions?  Poor planning on the part of our government has lead to the misuse of debt.  In fact, the US government spends more than it makes, and uses debt to make up the difference(borrowing from U.S. citizens and companies, and other national governments, etc.). 

BAD HABIT #3: The misuse of Debt
Uncle Sam taught us well.  When we spend more than we make, we often make  up the difference with debt (spending from credit cards, loans, etc.).   The longer the trend continues, the deeper in debt you become.

Bad Habits Are Tough to Break
Breaking habits require you to make changes to your behaviors.  Change is oten uncomfortable, but it is the only way. You cannot keep doing the same things expecting different results.  If you want to manage your finances in ways pleasing to God, you will need to identify and change some of your financial habits. 

The path toward change begins in God’s Word. The Bible contains over 2,000 verses dealing with practical ways to approach earning, saving, spending, investing, and giving of money.  Biblical principles are needed today!  Wherever you are on your financial journey, you can change direction if change is needed.   Young or old, rich or poor, we can always become a better steward with the blessings God bestoys upon us.

Let me know your thoughts…